Topic: College Basketball

Join us, won't you, in the annual college basketball-related bracket humiliation ritual? You just might learn something about the limits of your knowledge and the futility of information in the face of college basketball-related randomness. But, like, in a fun way.

For as long as Bo Ryan has been coaching at Wisconsin, questions have been raised about his teams' persistent lack of NBA-grade talent. He and the Badgers keep answering those questions by winning. Perhaps a better question is how Ryan and Wisconsin keep beating all these star-studded opponents, one year after another.

In the grand scheme of things, and in the NCAA Tournament, the winner of the MAAC Championship does not matter all that much. To the players fighting for the chance to write their own ending, though, it means so much more.

The Carrier Dome hosted its last Big East game on Wednesday night, and Syracuse quite fittingly won big. Syracuse will move to the ACC next year, and while the giant pillow-topped dome is not going anywhere, things won't be the same for one of college basketball's best and weirdest venues. Which is fine, because the Carrier Dome isn't really like anyplace else.

There's nothing wrong with some idle speculation on the NCAA Tournament, especially as March approaches. But a little bit less of ESPN Bracketologist-in-chief Joe Lunardi, and the silly, over-certain pseudoscience he sells, might do us all some good.

Nerlens Noel's short, strange and NBA-mandated college basketball career is almost certainly over after just 24 games and one scary knee injury. He'll be fine, most likely, but college basketball fans are still worse off for not getting to watch him figure out for himself how his dazzling talent works.

There are several good-enough reasons to root for Jae Crowder, the extravagantly be-dreaded rookie wing on the Dallas Mavericks. But what he might wind up being, and on some nights legitimately appears already to be, is currently a better reason to watch than anything Crowder actually is.

Perry Jones III could be the next Tracy McGrady. He could also be the next Qyntel Woods. Or, barring all that, he could just be Perry Jones III, a player who can do a lot and has been through a lot, but who is now not nearly yet what he'll someday be.